FALSE ADVERT-HIGHS-ING: These vendors at one of the Weed World vans around town don’t want you to know their secret: It’s just candy. (
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The only thing that’ll get you high at a Weed World Candies wagon is the exhaust fumes.
A fleet of flashy green vans and Hummers with Alabama plates has invaded the city, with vendors hawking lollipops they claim are made with pot.
“Weed!” the peddlers shout, sometimes with megaphones. “Stop by to get high!”
But the lollipops — which sell for $5 each or five for $20 — suck.
Smoking out a scam, NYPD officers “field-tested” the candy and found it contained no marijuana, officials told The Post.
“Maybe we can slap them with a charge of lying to the public,” a law-enforcement source said.
The bogus-buzz traffickers haven’t been busted for drug pushing or consumer fraud, but cops are cracking down on aggressive sales tactics. The outfit recruits “street teams and candy girls” to draw customers.
The 5th Precinct cops in Soho arrested three Weed World employees on July 30 on misdemeanor charges of selling goods without a vendor’s license. Cops also impounded a Weed World van parked at Prince Street and Broadway, with boxes of lollipops as evidence.
The city Health Department is also investigating. “A permit is required to sell any kind of food or drink in NYC. This vendor does not have a Health Department permit,” a spokeswoman said.
Cops stopped at a Weed World Hummer on Broadway in Soho last week but left after a peddler showed a vendor’s permit issued by the city Department of Consumer Affairs. A DCA spokeswoman said no permit was granted under the company name.
Weed World salesmen — one wearing a shirt with McDonald’s-like arches and the words, “Over one billion stoned” — gave various answers when asked about the content of the lollipops, which have names like Herojuana, Blue Dream and Strawberry Cough.
One said the candy is made with “different strains of marijuana, different plants grown all over the world.”
Another said the candy contains “hemp oil.” Hemp, a variety of the cannabis plant, is a controlled substance and is illegal to grow in the United States.
“It mixes with your body and gives off a nice, natural buzz,” said a manager who identified himself as Gregory “Ghost” Ware.
Customers felt conned.
“I don’t feel nothing,” said Antoine Johnson, 25, of The Bronx, who paid $20 for five of the spurious suckers. “I don’t feel high yet.”
His pal, Mark Santana, 25, agreed. “I’ve smoked weed, and this isn’t the same. It’s too much money for five lollipops.”